Chapter Sixteen
Liz turned slowly, her legs already going weak before she saw the photograph the pretty blonde at her door was pointing to. “Whitney?”
“I was afraid I’d never know who she was,” the young woman said. “After I overheard your conversation with Jack Marshall at the car dealership, I had to follow you. I had to find out if Whitney Clark was the woman I saw him murder.”
“What? This is about that harebrained friend of yours, Whitney Clark?” Robert demanded. “This woman followed you home? Liz, what the hell is going on? If she saw Whitney get murdered, then why didn’t she go to the police?”
“I did,” the blonde cried. “They didn’t believe me because he’d gotten rid of the body.”
Liz felt her eyes fill with tears as the truth settled over her.
The woman on her doorstep sounded unhinged, yet she had recognized Whitney.
Hadn’t Liz feared her friend was dead? Hadn’t she known when she looked at Jack Marshall that he was lying?
That he’d done something awful to Whitney, even worse than breaking her heart?
“Robert, leave. Now,” she said, sounding a little frenetic, but knowing that if he didn’t leave she might completely lose it. “Let me handle this.”
He swore behind her. “I told you Whitney was trouble. You don’t even know that this woman is telling the truth. It could be a scam, showing up at our door like this.”
“My door,” she corrected, and stepped back as she pushed the door open wider. “Go. If you don’t, I won’t be responsible for what I do.”
He swore but pushed past her, shooting a dagger at the woman standing on the steps before stalking out to his pickup. Liz waited until the engine revved, and he took off in a cloud of diesel smoke before she cleared her throat and asked, “What did you say your name was?”
“Amy Sue Brand.”
Her grip still on the door, she said, “I think you’d better come in. I’m Liz. Liz Baker, soon to be Liz Jones.” She stepped back to let the pretty blonde enter, afraid of what the woman was going to tell her, but needing to hear it.
As she closed the front door, she thought of Jack Marshall sitting behind his big desk, lying through his teeth.
“I can make coffee, but I think I’m going to need a drink,” she said as she led the way into the kitchen and opened the high cupboard to fish around until she found the bottle she had hidden there from Robert.
“Vodka with diet cola?” she asked pulling down the bottle to turn to face the woman. Amy Sue nodded and took the seat at the table as Liz got the diet cola from the refrigerator and a tray of ice from the freezer.
“I’m sorry about your friend.”
Liz had to choke back a sob so could only nod as she took out two glasses and began to fill them.
When she finally found her voice again, she said, “Whitney and I were roommates at college and stayed friends despite our age differences. She was like my—” her voice broke “—little sister.” She handed a glass to her surprise guest, pulled out a chair and sat down with her drink, cupping it in both hands.
“I know Jack Marshall is a lying, cheating bastard, but a killer?”
Amy Sue took a sip of her drink. It was definitely different, but right now it offered a warmth that she needed. “I don’t know how much you want to hear.”
“All of it,” Liz said, and took a gulp of her drink.
Amy Sue started at the beginning, telling her about renting the apartment online and realizing it was in a new subdivision that was still under construction outside of Billings.
“She told me her boyfriend was having a house built for her.”
“That’s what I thought when I saw the two of them. He appeared to be showing her the house. She was really excited.”
Liz took another gulp of her drink, her eyes filling with tears. Amy Sue swallowed the lump in her throat and continued explaining how a light had come on in the house and she’d been relieved she wasn’t alone when she’d seen the two of them.
“I’m not sure what happened, but something changed,” she said. “The woman turned toward him and didn’t look happy anymore. It all happened so fast.”
Liz sobbed quietly as she finished telling her how she’d seen Jack Marshall stab Whitney and wrap her in the plastic he pulled down from the doorway.
“I stumbled back in shock and the light behind the apartment house came on. That’s when he looked up and I recognized him. He looked directly at me. I saw the knife and the…blood.”
They both fell silent, the only sound the soft clink of their ice cubes against their glasses. “You must have been terrified,” Liz said.
“I ran to my car and took off for the police department. Unfortunately, by the time the police got to the house, Jack was gone. There was no body and no sign anything had happened, except the plastic sheeting that had been hanging over the door was gone.”
“Why isn’t he in jail?”
“He has what the police say is an airtight alibi. He swears he was at a conference in Great Falls and never left there all night.” She stopped to take a sip of her drink, her throat dry.
“The police didn’t believe I even saw a murder, let alone that Jack Marshall was involved.
They still don’t believe me. That’s why I chased you down. Without a body…”
Liz wiped her eyes and got up to refill her glass.
She motioned to Amy Sue, who declined another one.
“She told me about him, not his name but said he was somebody, but I never dreamed it would be Jack Marshall. Whitney was determined to marry a rich man. I can’t tell you how many of them used her and then broke her heart.
” She sat back down and stared into her full glass for a moment before she spoke again.
“When I went out to the house she rented, I saw him leaving it, and I knew he was the one she’d been seeing.
Whitney thought he was going to divorce his wife and marry her.
” She shook her head. “The rental house looked as if she’d packed up and left in a hurry, leaving a mess, which wasn’t like Whitney.
I knew something was horribly wrong, so I went to confront him.
I’d hoped maybe he’d packed her up. Or that he’d put her up in the house she said he was buying her.
I just wanted him to tell me where she was.
” She stopped to take a gulp of the drink.
“He said he didn’t know anyone by that name.
” She made a disgusted face and took another drink.
“Lies. All lies, but I never thought that he would…kill her.” She looked up.
“If I go to the police and tell them…” Her face fell.
“They aren’t going to believe me either, are they? ”
“There’s no proof she is even dead, and with his alibi…”
“Poor Whitney. I wonder what he did with her.” She began to cry quietly again before angrily wiping at her tears. “What can we do? He can’t get away with this.”
“Believe me, I feel the same way. That’s why I’ve been here in Billings hoping to prove somehow that he did it.
But unfortunately, he’s a very powerful and dangerous man.
At least now we have the name of the murdered woman and Whitney is missing, right?
That is more than the police had before today.
They can look into it, but if her body doesn’t turn up—”
“They’ll believe him, not us.”
Amy Sue nodded. “I’m going to do everything I can to prove that he’s lying. What you told me will help. I’m sure the detectives will want to talk to you.” She put down her empty glass and stood to leave. “I’m so sorry I’m the one who had to tell you.”
“I knew, but now I won’t keep looking for her, thinking that maybe she got away, so thank you.” Liz rose to her feet.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through, but now the police will have the victim’s name,” Amy Sue said.
“They have to take us seriously once they know that Jack was having an affair with the woman you saw murdered,” Liz argued.
“He still has an alibi.” She hesitated. “There’s something else. My sister is a lawyer. She thinks Jack might have killed before. You and I are now targets.” Liz paled, making her freckles stand out as she hugged herself. “I’d suggest staying away from him and being careful.”
“Just the opposite of what you plan to do,” Liz pointed out.
Amy Sue shrugged. “I have my reasons for trying to get justice so I can sleep at night. I know this is a lot to process. It won’t take much for Jack Marshall to find you—if he hasn’t already.
Let me give you my cell phone number.” They exchanged numbers, both promising to call if they learned anything new.
After the woman left, Liz considered having another drink, but instead found herself standing at the front window.
She kept thinking about Whitney and Jack Marshall.
She felt spooked as she watched Amy Sue go to her vehicle.
Moments after the woman drove away, a set of headlights flashed on and a large dark car moved slowly down the street, disappearing behind Amy Sue’s.
Hugging herself, Liz tried to shake off the feeling that the driver was following the young blonde. She let the curtain fall back in place and checked to make sure her front door was locked. Tomorrow she would have the locks changed so no one could get back in—including Robert.
She pulled out her phone to call Amy Sue and warn her when her cell rang. Robert. She hesitated. He was probably calling to check on her.
“Hey,” he said when she answered. “You all right? That was pretty creepy that woman showing up like that. So you think she was telling the truth and Jack Marshall killed Whitney?”
Liz could hear bar sounds in the background. “I’m fine, thanks.” She was going to have to get used to being on her own, she thought, wishing she hadn’t picked up his call.
“I was thinking this could work to our advantage.”
“My friend being dead?” She closed her eyes, feeling one of her headaches coming on.
“Jack Marshall. Baby, we’re sitting in the catbird’s seat.”
“I don’t know what that means, and I don’t care.”
“Listen, this man owes us. Owes you, Liz.”